The Distributional Impact of Taxes and Transfers in Poland
This paper assesses the impact of fiscal policy on the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty, and examines whether there is room for an increased role for fiscal policy in improving the wellbeing of the poor. The results show that the combined...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26676444/distributional-impact-taxes-transfers-poland http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24868 |
| Summary: | This paper assesses the impact of fiscal
policy on the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty, and
examines whether there is room for an increased role for
fiscal policy in improving the wellbeing of the poor. The
results show that the combined effect of taxes and social
spending helped substantially to reduce poverty and
inequality in Poland in 2014, in line with other European
Union countries, with most of the reduction largely being
achieved by pensions. However, in cash terms, households
beginning in the second decile were net payers to the
treasury in 2014, as the share of taxes paid exceeded the
cash benefits received for all but the poorest 10 percent of
the population. Although the Polish fiscal system in 2014
had the capacity to redistribute, it had a relatively weak
capacity to reduce poverty given the resources at its
disposal, and this was especially true for families with
children. Microsimulations of the introduction of the Family
500+ program in 2016 show the redistributive and poverty
reduction impacts of the new program, even after taking into
account the potential increase in indirect taxes. Finally,
alternative reforms of the tax-free allowance are
considered, and estimates of their likely impact on poverty,
inequality, and the potential fiscal cost are presented. The
simulations show that there are potential efficiency gains
from further targeting each of these new initiatives. |
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